UST alumna and Philippine Daily Inquirer founder Eugenia Duran-Apostol urged campus writers and media practitioners to practice “fearless journalism” last Nov. 22 in her lecture, “Huwag Magpakatuta: Journalism Ethics in the Philippines,” at the University of the Philippines (UP) Film Institute Cine Adarna.
“If you love your country and you have the talent for journalism, the talent to write, the spirit to try to improve your life and improve the lives of your countrymen, then do it,” Apostol said. “To be beholden to any news source is tragedy for a reporter. To be beholden to any advertiser is tragedy for a newspaper. And to act like ‘puppy dogs’ to public relations officers makes the editorial staff lose confidence in the desk,” she added.
Apostol, who gave the lecture in connection with the UP Gawad Plaridel she received last July 4, emphasized the need for separation of the media and the government.
“To have the media and the government go hand in hand is not a very fair thing, in the sense that you cannot watch someone that is your friend,” she said. “There should be a very clear definition of roles. Government is government and media is media.”
The Litt. B Journalism magna cum laude later reaffirmed Thomasian excellence in training journalism students.
“You can see the evidence of how UST can train a journalist, and my training came from it,” she told the Varsitarian.
The UP Gawad Plaridel, launched in January this year, was named after propagandist Marcelo H. del Pilar and is given to outstanding media practi-tioners who have performed with the highest level of integrity in the interest of public service. Lady Camille L. de Guia
